Saturday, November 10, 2007

TNL Onstage 2007



It’s about time of the year that music lovers from all parts of the island gather around to witness some of the best talents Sri Lanka has to offer. The all important final of TNL Onstage 2007 gets underway on November 10, 2007 (Tonight) @ SLECC with all glitz and glamour.

The grand finals of TNL Onstage 2007 promises to be bigger, better and more explosive than ever as six amateur bands, six amateur solo artistes and four hip-hop outfits take the centre stage.

Finalists
The following bands and Hip-hop acts have got through to the finals.
Bands: Merlock / Wagon Park / Icarus / Gray Mind Domain / Hollow / S.A.M.
Hip-hop Acts: Nouty Coast / Dirty 4 Four / Kavisha / Sheaam

Categories of TNL Onstage 2007
* Most Outstanding Band
* Most Outstanding Soloist
* Most Outstanding Hip-hop/R&B Act
* Most Outstanding Musician
* Best Original Song

Awards and Prizes
The Most Outstanding Band will walk away with the coveted title of TNL Onstage 2007. Apart from that, winners will receive…
* Awards for each category
* Sound equipment from Swedish Trading Audio Visual worth half a million rupees
* APPLE products from the EPSI iStore
* Cash prizes for the most outstanding Sprite Theme Song

Guest Performances
There will be a guest performance by the last year’s onstage winners Fuzz MechanX.

Fan Merchandise
The Sunday Leader Rock & Roll
special and a compilation CD featuring songs of all the finalists will be issued free with the ticket.

The live broadcast of TNL Onstage 2007 will be beamed to the whole island on 101.7FM in Colombo, 87.9FM Down South, 98.2FM Kandy and 90FM Islandwide.

TNL Onstage 2007
Date: November 10, 2007
Time: 8.30pm onwards
Venue: SLECC
Tickets: Rs.650

Go see it for yourself and be apart of the biggest musical phenomenal of the year.

TNL Onstage
TNL onstage is a musical milestone that is anxiously awaited year after year by aspiring musicians and local talent thirsting crowds.

Since its first appearance back in 1999, TNL Onstage has galvanized to become the music authority on upcoming artistes in the local music industry. The competition has spawned artistes who have now become the corner stone of the original music scene and have in turn inspired young bands to come out of their closet and promote their own music among the audiences. TNL Onstage is a platform which gives local artistes the opportunity to be more confident when it comes to developing their public image, putting out albums & singles and releasing the material to local media.


This post will be updated with photos and a low-down of winners. Make sure you check back…
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The most buzzed about grand finals of TNL Onstage 2007 which held at the SLECC on November 10 came to an end with a big bang. As mentioned earlier six bands, four hip-hop acts along with six soloists battled it out in front of a packed audience to grab hold of the titles for Winner- Onstage 2007, Most Outstanding Hip-hop Act and Best Soloist respectively.

The band Hollow was crowned the Best Band of the night and walked away with the prestigious title Winner - TNL Onstage 2007 together with more merchandize from the event partners and sponsors. The five piece heavy-metal outfit performed one of their originals “Sweet Betrayal” followed by a stunning cover of Queens “The Final Countdown” which got the crowd going really well. In the meantime, the band Merlock was named the first runner up in the band category.

The solo round was not that interesting. A couple of individuals tried so hard to imitate some international artistes by covering commercial hits such as Makes Me Wonder, Summer Love and Umbrella. Not sure whether such songs are suitable for a professional competition like TNL Onstage. They could have found better numbers. Chrishantha who probably gave the best performance of the night when it comes to the solo category had chosen the most outstanding Soloists. He took the audience on a ride with his cover of Scott Stapp’s “Great Divide” and heart-felting rendition of Evanescence’ classic “My Immortal”.

As for the Hip-hop acts, there were two Hip-hop crews namely Nouty Coast and Dirty 4 Four. With all the shades and blingz, they brought glamour to the show. The competition between these two acts was so tight. Both displayed original compositions. At the end, Nouty Coast who did a remake of the club banger “Tambourine” by Eve bagged the award for the most Outstanding Hip-hop act. Even though, it should be mentioned that both acts deserved the title. The other solo participants in the category didn’t make a huge impression among the audience.

The stage looked extremely good. There were two LCD screens carrying artist clips & interviews, intros and promotional material from the sponsors. The venue has also been designed to give the audience the perfect atmosphere. The panel of judges included some of the biggest names in the local music industry including Natasha Jayasuriya, Bathiya, Iraj Weeraratne and Ashanthi. It was a great show. And the talent this year was out of this world. An audience of over 3000 people turned up at this year’s TNL Onstage to support Sri Lankan originality.

Following is a low-down of the event……

Winners
* Most Outstanding Band / Winner: TNL Onstage 2007 – Hollow
* Most Outstanding Band (1st Runner up) – Merlock
* Most Outstanding Musicians – Dilshan (Drummer – Hollow)
* Best Original Song – Crimson Skies (Merlock)
* Most Outstanding Soloist – Chrishantha
* Most Outstanding Hip-hop/R&B Act – Nouty Coast
* Sprite Theme Song – Thirst (Icarus)

Here’s a list of songs performed by the each individual….

Songs performed by the winners/contestants
Band
* Hollow – Sweet Betrayal / The Final Countdown (Queen)
* Merlock – Crimson Skies
* Icarus – Your Lullaby / Run (Snow Patrol)
* Wagon Park – Jingy Bingy Blues / Comfortably Numb (Pink Floyd)
* Gray Mind Domain – Into My Mind / Layla (Eric Clapton)
* S.A.M – I’ll Catch You If You Fall / When The Sun Goes Down (Arctic Monkeys)

Solo
* Chrishantha – Great Divide (Scott Stapp) / My Immortal (Evanescence)
* Mariam – Every Breath You Take (Sting) / Umbrella (Rihanna)

Hip-hop
* Nouty Coast – Shawty Goffta / Tambourine (Eve)
* Dirty 4 Four – Dirty CMB /

Guest Performances of the Night
Guest performances of the night saw the up and coming band Thriloka and last year’s Onstage winners Fuzz MechanX.
* Thriloka – Opening Act
* Fuzz MechanX – Final Performance

Media
Here, I’ve got some original music from the artistes who took part for TNL Onstage 2007. The following tracks are getting a fair amount of airplay on local radio. The tracks can also be found in TNL Onstage Compilation CD. Happy listening…….
* Hollow – Sweet Betrayal (Acoustic) (DOWNLOAD)
* Dirty 4 Four – Dirty CMB (DOWNLOAD)
* S.A.M. - Catch You If You Fall (DOWNLOAD)

Last updated: Nov 24, 2007

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 on YES FM

Rick Dees Weekly Top 40, the longest running modern radio chart show which captivated music lovers around the globe is coming to the airwaves of 89.5 YES FM this November.

YES FM will be airing the "Hit Radio" version of the show which is designed for contemporary radio stations. The four-hour countdown based on radio playlists showcases 40 of the biggest hits in the nation along with music news, up-close celebrity sleaze, guest appearances and competitions.

Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 countdown is currently heard on over 350 radio stations in the US as well as in 177 countries worldwide. The internationally syndicated show reaches 30 million people every week. Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 is available in three different formats- Hit Radio, Hot Adult and Rhythmic. The chart show is hosted by the legendary radio presenter Rick Dees. He has been named Billboard Magazine’s number one radio personality in America for the past eleven years. Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 is a production of Radio Express.

Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 was previously aired on TNL Radio.

Rick Dees Weekly Top 40
First Airing: Saturdays 4 – 8pm
Repeat: Sundays 10 – 2pm

Website: http://www.rick.com/